Hyundai’s new electric city cars could replace the i10
Marque joins other brands, such as Volkswagen, also looking at entering compact-EV market
Hyundai is developing two small electric cars for the European market, with a sub-€20,000 (£17,041) price tag being proposed.
The as-yet-unnamed cars, expected to be successors to the Hyundai i10 that was released in 2020, will join 10 other EVs that Hyundai plans to release in Europe by 2030.
It’s expected that one will be a city car and another a chunkier variant in the vein of the upcoming Volkswagen ID 1. Production is earmarked to begin in mid 2023 and late 2024 respectively.
The cars will be powered by BorgWarner electric motors, the company has confirmed, with peak power hitting 135kW (181bhp), although power and torque can be scaled by the manufacturer.
Hyundai will be rivalling similar projects being undertaken by the Volkswagen Group, which will release small EVs at around the same price under its Cupra, Skoda and Volkswagen brands.
However, production-ready versions of the Korean brand’s cars are still a little while off, Hyundai Motor Europe marketing chief Andreas-Christoph Hofmann told Automotive News Europe.
The move towards affordable small cars, especially electric ones, comes as manufacturers look at ways of releasing new models but staying within new, tighter emissions regulations.
Hofmann said that city cars “are tough to sell profitably”, due to their low pricing and the technology needed to electrify smaller vehicles.
Despite a worry over profits, Hyundai is currently toasting the success of its second-quarter results, as it increased its European sales by 8.2%, with EVs accounting for 16% of this.
The company will hope that the Hyundai Ioniq 6 will push this further when it’s released later this year. Expected to be priced from £45,000, the electric saloon has a 379-mile range and a 329bhp output.
“We’re confident about the second half [of the year],” Hofmann said.
Source: Autocar
